By Tallon Smith

The Wilcannia Boomerangs are the first team in NSW to be crowned premiers of their local competition for 2024 after defeating the Silver City Scorpions 40-16 in the Grand Final of the Outback Rugby League on Saturday.

The win over the Broken Hill-based outfit is the Boomerangs’ second consecutive title, giving the club nine premierships in their history, and their first back-to-back titles since 2014-15.

In a season where only three clubs competed in the competition, and one essentially withdrew after round one, the teams met three times during the regular season, with Wilcannia winning each time by 58-20, 60-34, and 64-4.

The only other match played during the season was between Silver City and Paarka Broncos, with the Scorpions winning 24-18, before the Broncos forfeited the remainder of their fixtures.

However, despite the bleak outlook one might have after reading the above, it is still incredible that the competition continues to exist in some of the most remote regions of the state, especially given that its death knell sounded when the 2022 season was abandoned.

Rugby league football is the lifeblood of the small towns in the competition, with Boomerangs President Uncle Owen Whyman Sr telling Battlers For Bush Footy last year that it means everything to the towns involved.

“The town has two teams in it, and we have a population of 700, we have one pub, one club, two service stations and one shop, the local IGA,” he said.

“It used to be Group 12 out this way […] in the 1980s and 90s, we had A Grade, Reserves, Under 17s and Under 15s, then Super League came along and stuffed up bush footy.”

So from Battlers For Bush Footy, we say congratulations to the Wilcannia Boomerangs, Outback Rugby League Premiers for the 2024 season, and we also congratulate the Silver City Scorpions on another hard fought campaign.

Cover Photo: The Boomerangs after they won last year’s decider